Penn State announces list of seniors set to walk Saturday
Penn State’s Senior Day ceremony is set for 11:30 a.m. Saturday morning ahead of the Nittany Lions’ game with Rutgers at Beaver Stadium.
Friday evening, the program announced who will be included.
Coming off a COVID-19 year in which all participants of the 2020 season were exempted from having to use any of their collegiate eligibility, that leaves a lengthy list for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State seniors set to participate:
Jaquan Brisker*
Ellis Brooks
Journey Brown
Tariq Castro-Fields*
Rafael Checa
Max Chizmar
Sean Clifford
Arnold Ebiketie
Winston Eubanks
Henry Fessler
Fred Hansard
Drew Hartlaub
Vlad Hilling
Des Holmes
Bradley King
Will Knutsson
Kaleb Konigus
John Lovett
Jesse Luketa
Jordan Miner
Mike Miranda
PJ Mustipher
Jordan Stout
Cam Sullivan-Brown
Johnathan Sutherland
Derrick Tangelo
Dan Vasey
Justin Weller
Anthony Whigan
Ben Wilson*
Eric Wilson
Unlike most traditional Senior Day ceremonies, however, duplicates will certainly happen Saturday and then, again, next season.
Penn State players with an asterisk in the list above – Jaquan Brisker, Tariq Castro-Fields, and Ben Wilson – all walked as seniors in the ceremony before ultimately deciding to return to take advantage of the NCAA’s bonus year of eligibility this year.
“It’s really strange. We had multiple guys last year walk on Senior Day and then because of the COVID year, guys came back,” Franklin said Thursday evening at his radio show. “Going into this year, we’re in the same situation. And we’ll probably be this way for four years because anybody that was in the program during the COVID year, it doesn’t count. So there are a couple of those guys that we’re hoping do decide to come back that are walking.”
In addition to the three listed above, Penn State also has transfers into the program who have taken advantage of the extra year in running back John Lovett and Derrick Tangelo.
Penn State defensive end Arnold Ebiketie took a redshirt at Temple during his first season as an Owl in 2017, but would have another year of eligibility if so chosen, a circumstance mirrored by offensive lineman Eric Wilson.
The Nittany Lions’ true senior class of scholarship players includes Jahan Dotson, Ji’Ayir Brown, Jesse Luketa, Norval Black, Jake Pinegar, and P.J. Mustipher, each of whom would receive an additional year to play if decided upon.
The catch
There is a catch to all of Penn State’s true and fifth-year seniors needing to make a decision on whether or not to return for an extra year with the Nittany Lions, Franklin said.
“We have to account for those guys that want to come back, but we can only be at 85. Last year, they allowed you to go over that. So how do you predict what guys are going to come back? What guys are going to leave? What guys are gonna leave early for the NFL? Whatever it may be,” Franklin said of Penn State’s predicament. “It makes it very difficult to try to figure out what is your number of recruits that you can bring in the next year.
“So there’s still some wiggle room, but it can become really challenging. I’ve had a bunch of discussions with Sandy Barbour as well as our compliance department. I had Andy Frank, our recruiting coordinator, go up there with them and kind of go through it in detail. I think they were kind of shocked at how challenging this can be.”
Penn State’s ceremony is set to begin at 11:30 a.m. at Beaver Stadium with players able to greet their families on the field.
